Central Dauphin High School seniors protest alcohol penalties

Danny Meyer and Todd Komykoski expected to end their Central Dauphin High School athletic careers by competing in their last three track meets.

Instead, their athletics days ended abruptly when the two seniors and eight others were suspended for 10 days after alcohol was found in the limousine in which they rode to the prom at the Radisson Hotel Harrisburg, East Pennsboro Township. The suspensions began Wednesday and end May 23.

View full sizeDAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News, 2009The Central Dauphin School District administration building on Rutherford Road in Lower Paxton Township.

The students say they didn’t drink and that blood alcohol tests administered by East Pennsboro Township police registered zero.

They also say they didn’t violate the district Student Code of Conduct, which prohibits students from possessing, using, distributing or selling alcohol on school district property or at any school activity.

Police didn’t return calls for this story. School district officials are not giving out details.

The matter began on May 4, when 16 teenagers — 15 Central Dauphin students and a college student — rode in a limousine to the Radisson. Officials said that after a few bottles of alcohol were found in the limousine, school administrators at the prom called police and parents.

Some parents subsequently contacted The Patriot-News, saying that their children were treated unfairly and denied due process that, in at least in two cases, ended their chances to compete in athletics events they had worked toward all year.

Many of the teens were given Breathalyzer tests to determine if they had drunk alcohol. The district suspended 10 students even though Meyer and Komykoski, both 18, say the tests proved that they didn’t drink.

The five students who were not suspended reportedly had separated from the group.

On May 5, Meyer drove to the high school to compete in the pole vault, 110-meter high hurdles and long jump at the Cedar Cliff Relays invitational track meet. His coach told him he wasn’t allowed to compete until further notice. Meyer said he was so distraught at the news that he crashed his car into a guardrail on the way home.

A few days later, he received a letter from the school telling him he was suspended because he was under the influence of alcohol at the prom.

“I did the right thing,” he said. “I didn’t drink. I got a zero on my Breathalyzer test. But I wasn’t allowed to compete in the Cedar Cliff Relays last week or the Mid-Penn track meet at Chambersburg. The District 3 Track and Field Invitational is this coming Saturday. I can’t finish up the season. This has ruined the end of my senior year.”

Komykoski needed one more jump to compete in the pole vault at the District 3 tournament.

“I worked for this for 1½ years,” he said. “Now I’ve lost the opportunity. It’s unfair to suspend me when I didn’t drink and my Breathalyzer test was zero. It’s a bad way to end my senior year.”

Ford Thompson, school board president, said he couldn’t give specific comments about the incident.

“At the beginning of the school year, all high students receive a student conduct handbook that specifically spells out the code of conduct on school property and at school-sponsored events,” he said. “They sign a paper when they receive it and that it has been explained to them. Infractions of that code are dealt with appropriately.”

Thompson said the suspended seniors will be allowed to graduate with their class on June 6.

Al Meyer of Lower Paxton Township, Danny Meyer’s father, compared the Central Dauphin School District to a totalitarian country where the government regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life. “Lawsuits are planned,” he said.

She said the suspensions are based on “unfounded accusations, conjecture and hearsay” and said district officials believe a person is guilty until proven innocent. She said her son and Komykoski paid a much higher price than the other suspended students.

“Danny and Todd have worked so hard,” she said. “Danny qualified in three events for the District 3 meet. Now his track career is ended. When you’re are in high school, those things are traumatic.”

CENTRAL DAUPHIN SCHOOL DISTRICT STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT

The 2011-12 code prohibits students from possessing, using, distributing or selling any drug, alcohol, drug look-alike or drug paraphernalia on school district property, including school district contracted, leased or chartered buses, at any school activity, extracurricular activity or co-curricular activity or at any school-sponsored function.

The prom is a school-sponsored function.

The code also says that any student, including athletes and those involved in extracurricular and co-curricular activities, found guilty of violating the policy will be suspended from school with parental and police notification and be subject to further disciplinary proceedings to include possible expulsion.

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